Baking tray

ABSTRACT

A corrugated or other suitable carton board tray for baking a food product in the tray is disclosed. The tray includes a rectangular base ( 5 ), upright side walls ( 7 ), upright end walls ( 9 ), and a locking assembly ( 15, 17 ) that holds the side walls and the end walls in upright positions with the comers of the tray and therefore the corners of the baked food product produced in the tray being straight and squared. A blank for forming the tray is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a corrugated or other suitable cartonboard tray for baking food products, such as cakes.

The present invention also relates to a corrugated or other suitablecarton board blank for forming the tray.

Bakeries often cut baked food products, such as cakes, into smallerportions for sale at retail outlets. For commercial reasons, it isimportant that the cut portions be a uniform size and shape. Typically,bakeries cut baked products using precision cutting equipment, such assonic and laser cutters, which are able to cut the products with a highdegree of dimensional accuracy and produce sharp well-defined cuts.However, in order to produce cut portions of uniform size and shape itis important that the as-baked products be dimensionally accurate. Theas-baked shapes of the products are directly related to the shapes ofthe trays in which the products are baked.

Metal baking trays, which are the main type of baking trays that arecurrently used in bakeries, can be made to a high degree of dimensionalaccuracy. However, traditionally, metal baking trays have tapered sidewalls and rounded corners to facilitate the manufacturing process ofpressing the trays and to facilitate removing baked products from thetrays. Thus, the corners of the baked products are not straight andsquared. Therefore, these metal baking trays are not adapted to bakeproducts that can be cut into portions having a uniform size and shape.

It is known to manufacture metal baking trays with square side walls andsquare corners (rather than with tapered side walls and roundedcorners). However, these trays do not nest and therefore there areissues with handling large numbers of the trays—as would be necessary inbakeries. In addition, it is relatively difficult to remove bakedproducts from these trays.

There have been proposals to use corrugated board baking trays as analternative to metal baking trays. However, the current proposals forsuch trays are not dimensionally accurate, with the result that therecan be undesirable substantial variations in size and shape of portionscut from baked products made in these trays.

An object of the present invention is to provide a corrugated or othersuitable carton board baking tray that is capable of producing bakedproducts with a high degree of dimensional accuracy.

The present invention provides a corrugated or other suitable cartonboard tray for baking a food product in the tray that includes arectangular (which term includes square) base, upright side walls,upright end walls, and a locking assembly that holds the side walls andthe end walls in upright positions with the corners of the tray andtherefore the corners of the baked food product produced in the traybeing straight and squared.

Preferably each side wall of the tray is inwardly concave along itslength between the end walls so that the side walls can flex outwardlyto form side walls that are perpendicular to the base and perpendicularto the end walls as the food product in the tray expands during baking.

Preferably the locking assembly releasably holds together the end wallsand the side walls of the tray so that the end walls and the side wallscan be folded outwardly and downwardly to provide access to the foodproduct that has been baked in the tray.

Preferably the locking assembly includes locking tabs on the side wallsand slots in the end walls that receive the locking tabs and releasablyhold together the end walls and the side walls.

Preferably the side walls include flaps that form part of the end wallsof the tray.

Preferably the locking tabs extend from the flaps.

Preferably each side wall flap includes at least one locking tab thatextends from an upper edge of the side wall flap.

Preferably the tray includes gusset corners in a lower section of thetray.

Preferably the gusset corners extend no more than one third of theheight of the tray.

The present invention also provides a blank of a corrugated or any othersuitable carton board material for forming the above-described tray.

The blank includes a series of panels separated by fold lines.

The panels include a base panel that forms the base of the tray and sidewall panels adjoining the base panel along opposite sides of the basepanel. The side wall panels form the upright side walls of the tray.

The panels also include end wall panels adjoining the base panel atopposite ends of the base panel (hereinafter referred to as the “baseflaps”) and end wall panels adjoining the side wall panels at oppositeends of the side wall panels (hereinafter referred to as “side wallflaps”). The base and side wall flaps form the end walls of the tray.

Preferably the side wall flaps and the base flaps include the lockingassembly.

Preferably the side wall flaps include locking tabs and the base flapsinclude slots that can receive the locking tabs when the base and sidewall flaps are in folded positions.

The present invention also provides a method of forming theabove-described tray from a flat blank.

In accordance with the method, each side wall is formed by folding theside wall panels upwardly at the fold lines that separate the side wallpanels and the base panels.

Thereafter, each end wall is formed by (a) folding the base flap at thatend upwardly at the fold line that separates the base flap and the basepanel, and (b) folding the side wall flaps at that end inwardly at thefold lines that separate the side wall flaps and the side wall panels tobring the side wall flaps into contact with the outer surface of theupstanding base flap.

Thereafter, the locking assembly is engaged to lock together the sidewall flaps and the base flaps and thereby hold the side wall flapsagainst the base flaps.

The action of folding the side wall flaps inwardly has the effect ofbringing the upstanding side wall panels of the tray into contact withside edges of the upstanding base flap and thereby forming the cornersbetween adjacent side and end walls.

Preferably the method includes engaging the locking assembly byinserting the locking tabs on the side wall flaps into the slots in thebase flaps when the base and side wall flaps are in folded positions andthereby holding the side wall flaps against the base flaps.

Preferably the locking assembly is formed so that the side wall flaps ateach end of the tray are pulled inwardly towards each other and therebyforce the side wall panels into close contact with the side edges of theupstanding base flaps. This feature contributes to forming straight andsquared corners between the side and end walls.

Preferably adjacent base flaps and side wall flaps are partly joinedtogether by gusset panels that form gusset corners in a lower section ofthe tray. The gusset corners prevent liquids in a baking mix andgenerated during baking a food product from escaping from the tray. Byconfining the gusset corners to the lower section of the tray, thegusset corners do not interfere with the close contact between adjacentside and end walls at these corners of the tray that is achieved withthe above-described arrangement of the base and side wall flaps.

Preferably the gusset corners extend no more than one third of theheight of the tray.

The applicant has found that the above-described tray, and moreparticularly the end wall construction of the upwardly folded base flapsand the inwardly folded side wall flaps that are held together by thedescribed locking assemblies of locking tabs and slots, makes itpossible to form straight and squared corners between the side walls andthe end walls of the tray.

In addition, the applicant has found that the locking assemblies oflocking tabs and slots facilitate quick and easy erection of the trayfrom the flat blank.

In addition, the locking assemblies of locking tabs and slots can bequickly and easily unlocked so that one or both end walls can be“unfolded” to facilitate removal of cut portions of baked products fromthe tray and can then be “re-folded” and locked to re-form the end wallor walls to store remaining cut portions in the tray.

Preferably an upper edge of each side wall of the tray is formed byfolding an upper section of the side wall panel outwardly and downwardlyagainst an outer surface of a lower section of the side wall panel andgluing or otherwise holding the folded upper section against the outersurface.

Preferably an upper edge of each end wall of the tray is formed byfolding an upper section of the base flap outwardly and downwardlyagainst an outer surface of upper sections of the side wall flaps.

Preferably the slots in the base flaps are positioned so that the slotsare on the upper edges of the end walls.

The present invention also provides a method of baking a food product inthe above-described tray and thereafter at least partially packaging thebaked food product which includes depositing a predetermined amount ofunbaked food product mix in the tray, baking the food product in thetray, and packaging the baked food product located in the tray so thatthe baked food product can be transported to an end use location.

Preferably the method further includes cutting the baked food productinto smaller portions in the tray.

Preferably the cut smaller portions are substantially uniform size andshape.

The present invention is described further with reference to theaccompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a baking trayin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the tray shown in FIG. 1 which illustratesthe arrangement of the base flap and side wall flaps at one end of thetray prior to the flaps being folded upwardly and inwardly,respectively, to form that end wall of the tray; and

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a blank for forming the tray shown in FIGS.1 and 2.

The baking tray shown in FIG. 1 is formed from corrugated or any othersuitable carton board which has (a) a bleached lining on the surfaces ofthe board that form the interior and an upper section of the exterior ofthe box, and (b) a heat resistant polyolefin or other suitable coatingon the bleached lining.

The tray is orthogonal with a rectangular base 5, upright side walls 7,and upright end walls 9.

The side walls 7 and the end walls 9 are folded outwardly so that theupper edges of these walls form generally smooth surfaces.

The lower sections of the corners between adjacent side and end walls 7,9 are formed as gusset corners to prevent the escape of liquids from thetray. These gusset corners extend only part way up the height of thetray.

As is described in more detail hereinafter, the tray is formed so thatthe corners between (a) the base 5 and the side walls 7, (b) the base 5and the end walls 9, and (c) the side walls 7 and the end walls 9, arestraight and square. This construction ensures that a baked productproduced in the tray has straight and squared corners and straight sidesand therefore has a high degree of dimensional accuracy. As is indicatedabove, this is an important consideration in terms of cutting the bakedproduct into portions that have a uniform size and shape.

In addition to the above, the side walls 7 of the tray are inwardlyconcave along the length of the side walls 7 by a small amount toaccommodate outward bulging of the side walls 7 as a food product isbaked in the tray.

The tray is formed by folding the corrugated board blank shown in FIG.3. One face of the blank has the above-described bleached lining andheat resistant polyolefin coating on the bleached lining.

With reference to FIG. 3, the blank includes a series of fold lines 11that define a series of panels.

The panels include a base panel 5 that forms the base 5 of the tray.

The panels also include side wall panels 7 a that adjoin the base panel5 at opposite sides of the base panel 5 and side wall panels 7 b thatadjoin the side wall panels 7 a. These side wall panels 7 a, 7 b formthe side walls 7 of the tray.

The panels also include base flaps 9 a that adjoin the base panel 5 atopposite sides of the base panel 5, base flaps 9 b that adjoin the baseflaps 9 a, and side wall flaps 9 c that adjoin the side wall flaps 7 aat opposite sides of the side wall panels 7 a. These flaps 9 a, 9 b, 9c, which can be collectively described as end wall flaps, form the endwalls 9 of the tray.

The fold lines 11 between the pairs of base flaps 9 a, 9 b are scoredpart way along their length to form slots 15. In addition, the side wallflaps 9 c include outwardly projecting tabs 17. As is describedhereinafter, the slots 15 and the tabs 17 form locking assemblies thathold the end flaps 9 a, 9 b, 9 c together to form the end walls 9 of thetray.

The panels also include gusset panels 21 that partly join togetheradjacent base flaps 9 a and side wall flaps 9 c to form the gussetcorners 13.

The tray is formed from the blank by firstly folding the side wallpanels 7 b about the fold lines 11 that separate the pairs of side wallpanels 7 a and 7 b so that the non-bleached faces of the side wallpanels 7 b contact the non-bleached faces of the side wall panels 7 aand thereafter gluing the faces together. This step produces side walls7 with smooth upper edges.

The next step in erecting the tray is to fold the glued together sidewall panels 7 a, 7 b upwardly about the fold lines 11 that separate theside wall panels 7 a and the base panel 5 to form the upstanding sidewalls 7 of the tray.

Thereafter, the base flaps 9 a, 9 b are folded upwardly and inwardly toupstanding positions and the side wall flaps 9 c are folded inwardlyagainst the outwardly facing surfaces of the upstanding base flaps 9 a.This movement of the side wall flaps 9 c brings the upstanding side wallpanels 7 a into close contact with the side edges of the upstanding baseflaps 9 a and forms the corners between adjacent side walls 7 and endwalls 9.

The base flaps 9 a and side wall flaps 9 c are held in contact by meansof the above-described slots 15 and locking tabs 17. The positions ofthese components of locking assemblies are selected so that a step offolding the base flaps 9 b outwardly and downwardly positions the slots15 to form part of the upper edges of the end walls 9 and positions thelocking tabs 17 to extend upwardly through the slots 15 so that thelocking tabs 17 are retained by the slots.

The positions of the slots 15 and the locking tabs 17 are also selectedso that it is necessary to force the side wall flaps 9 c inwardly inorder to align the locking tabs 17 carried by these flaps 9 c to bereceived in the slots 15 and this inward movement further promotes closecontact between the side walls 7 and the side edges of the upstandingbase flaps 9 a that form the corners.

The above-described tray can be formed without difficulty onconventional cutting, folding and gluing machinery.

In use in a bakery, a predetermined amount of unbaked food product mixis deposited in the above-described tray and the tray and food productmix are thereafter placed in an oven and the food product is baked inthe tray. At the end of a required baking time, the tray and baked foodproduct are removed from the oven and the food product is allowed tocool to a required extent in the tray. Thereafter, the cooled foodproduct is cut into smaller portions of uniform size and shape usinglaser or other suitable precision cutting equipment. At his point, thetray forms part of the packaging of the now cut baked food product. Thepackaging of the baked food product located in the tray is completed asrequired the packaged product is ready to be transported to an end uselocation for use at the location.

Many modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment of the traywithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A corrugated or other suitable carton board tray for baking a foodproduct in the tray that includes a rectangular base, upright sidewalls, upright end walls, and a locking assembly that holds the sidewalls and the end walls in upright positions with the comers of the trayand therefore the comers of the baked food product produced in the traybeing straight and squared.
 2. The tray defined in claim 1 wherein eachside wall of the tray is inwardly concave along its length between theend walls so that the side walls can flex outwardly to form side wallsthat are perpendicular to the base and perpendicular to the end walls asthe food product in the tray expands during baking.
 3. The tray definedin claim 1 wherein the locking assembly releasably holds together theend walls and the side walls of the tray so that the end walls and theside walls can be folded outwardly and downwardly to provide access tothe food product that has been baked in the tray.
 4. The tray defined inclaim 3 wherein the locking assembly includes locking tabs on the sidewalls and slots in the end walls that receive the locking tabs andreleasably hold together the end walls and the side walls.
 5. The traydefined in claim 4 wherein the side walls include flaps that are formpart of the end walls of the tray.
 6. The tray defined in claim 5wherein the locking tabs extend from the flaps.
 7. The tray defined inclaim 1 includes gusset comers in a lower section of the tray.
 8. Thetray defined in claim 7 wherein the gusset corners extend no more thanone third of the height of the tray.
 9. A blank of a corrugated or anyother suitable carton board material for forming the tray defined inclaim 1 includes a series of panels separated by fold lines and thepanels include (a) a base panel that is adapted to form the base of thetray, (b) side wall panels adjoining the base panel along opposite sidesof the base panel that are adapted to form the upright side walls of thetray, (c) end wall panels adjoining the base panel at opposite ends ofthe base panel (hereinafter referred to as the “base flaps”), and (d)end wall panels adjoining the side wall panels at opposite ends of theside wall panels (hereinafter referred to as “side wall flaps”), whereinthe base flaps and the side wall flaps are adapted to form the end wallsof the tray, and wherein the base flaps and the side wall flaps includethe locking assembly.
 10. The blank defined in claim 9 wherein the sidewall flaps include locking tabs and the base flaps include slots thatcan receive the locking tabs when the base and side wall flaps are infolded positions.
 11. The blank defined in claim 9 wherein adjacent baseflaps and side wall flaps are partly joined together by gusset panelsthat are adapted to form gusset corners in a lower section of the tray.12. A method of forming the tray defined in claim 9 from the blank,wherein the side wall flaps include locking tabs and the base flapsinclude slots that can receive the locking tabs when the base and sidewall flaps are in folded positions and adjacent base flaps and side wallflaps are partly joined together by gusset panels that are adapted toform gusset corners in a lower section of the tray, the method includingthe steps of (a) forming each side wall by folding the side wall panelsupwardly at the fold lines that separate the side wall panels and thebase panels and (b) forming each end wall by (i) folding the base flapat that end upwardly at the fold line that separates the base flap andthe base panel, and (ii) folding the side wall flaps at that endinwardly at the fold lines that separate the side wall flaps and theside wall panels to bring the side wall flaps into contact with theouter surface of the upstanding base flap, and (c) engaging the lockingassembly to lock together the side wall flaps and the base flaps. 13.The method defined in claim 12 further includes engaging the lockingassembly by inserting the locking tabs on the side wall flaps into theslots in the base flaps when the base and side wall flaps are in foldedpositions and thereby holding the side wall flaps against the baseflaps.
 14. A method of baking a food product in the tray defined inclaim 1 and thereafter at least partially packaging the baked foodproduct includes the steps of (a) depositing a predetermined amount ofunbaked food product mix in the tray, (b) baking the food product in thetray, and (c) packaging the baked food product located in the tray sothat the baked food product can be transported to an end use location.15. The method defined in claim 14 further includes cutting the bakedfood product into smaller portions in the tray.
 16. The method definedin claim 15 includes cutting the baked food product into smallerportions of substantially uniform size and shape in the tray.